The Flatiron, New York, from the portfolio Edward Steichen: The Early Years, 1900–1927

Steichen founded the Photo-Secession group with Alfred Stieglitz, who championed photography as a fine art and established the 291 gallery in New York. They believed that photography was a powerful and expressive visual medium. They embraced a Pictorialist approach, using soft focus, rich tonal contrasts, and carefully arranged compositions to craft an image on par with painting in terms of aesthetic and emotional effect. The Flatiron is a seminal image in the history of American photography, celebrating both the architectural ingenuity of this early skyscraper—completed just three years before this exposure was taken—as well as the artistic sensibilities of the photographer.